One's Craft

Like the frost on a rose, winter comes for us all
Oh, how nature acquaints us with the nature of patience
Like a seed in the snow, I’ve been buried to grow
For Your promise is loyal, from seed to sequoia

Though the winter is long, even richer
The harvest it brings
Though my waiting prolongs even greater
Your promise for me like a seed
I believe that my season will come

Lord, I think of Your love like a low winter sun
And as I gaze, I am blinded in the light of Your brightness
And like a fire to the snow, I’m renewed in Your warmth
Melt the ice of this wild soul ’til the barren is beautiful

And though the winter is long, even richer
The harvest it brings
Though my waiting prolongs even greater
Your promise for me like a seed
I believe that my season will come

I can see the promise, I can see the future
You’re the God of seasons, I’m just in the winter
If all I know of harvest is that it’s worth my patience
Then if You’re not done working, God, I’m not done waiting

You can see my promise even in the winter
‘Cause You’re the God of greatness even in a manger
For all I know of seasons is that You take Your time
You could have saved us in a second, instead, You sent a Child…

Though the winter is long, even richer
The harvest it brings
Though my waiting prolongs even greater
Your promise for me like a seed
I believe that my season will come
And when I finally see my tree
Still, I believe there’s a season to come

Like a seed You were sown
For the sake of us all
From Bethlehem’s soil
Grew Calvary’s sequoia

As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God

Take me back… Back to the beginning

For this post, I remember a time when life felt simpler for me. I recall driving back from a tough session at China Peak. The storm had just cleared, leaving the entire resort blanketed in powder. I was with my buddy, Nap, and we had met up with an old acquaintance from college days, Adamsom.

The resort was breathtaking: clear skies, shining sun, and perfectly groomed lines. The snowboarding conditions were flawless. I remember carving through the powder with speed—my favorite kind of riding. There’s nothing quite like the way the snow sprays around you as you carve, kissing every icy curve with your board. At one point, we all met up for a break in the parking lot. We popped open our trunks, and each of us had a beer to share. That’s when I discovered Firefall, a red lager by Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Company.

The beer complemented the day perfectly, and I remember being captivated by the can’s artwork. It depicted Yosemite’s famous natural phenomenon that happens just 13 days a year: during sunset, the sun’s rays hit one of Yosemite’s waterfalls just right, making it glow like lava cascading down 3,000 feet of snowy majesty. Looking at that illustration, I thought to myself, “One day, I’m going to see that for real.”

We continued our long and thrilling session across China Peak’s powdery terrain, and it was totally worth it. By the time we packed up, I was ready to drive back and nurse my sore muscles. But first, we had to navigate the winding, snow-covered roads leading down the mountain—a nerve-racking challenge that lived up to its reputation.

However, amid the tension came a moment of serenity. As we drove, the sun began to set, painting the skies in shades of purple. The entire landscape seemed to glow. After a while, we passed some trees, and suddenly, a stunning valley and lake came into view. I had to pull over.

That moment by the lake was profound. It was a time of reflection—a moment when the lake seemed to reveal something more, something deeper about life.

“On its own, this data may not mean much, but as we’ve discussed before, the data may be collected to form a comprehensive profile of you. And that may be a lot more than most people want to reveal when they’re just trying to send money to a friend.”

Wirecutter on “Which Mobile Payments Are the Most Private and Secure?”

“Ever since I’ve had cancer, I’ve been thinking about (God) more. And I find myself believing a bit more. Maybe it’s because I want to believe in an afterlife. That when you die, it doesn’t just all disappear,” Isaacson quoted Jobs as saying.

“Then he paused for a second and he said ‘yeah, but sometimes I think it’s just like an on-off switch. Click and you’re gone,” Isaacson said of Jobs. “He paused again, and he said: And that’s why I don’t like putting on-off switches on Apple devices.”

                                                 – Sir Walter Isaacson from “Steve Jobs“

…”The flowering of group chats points us in one direction. In almost all ways, I find the group chat an improvement over the machine-sorted feed. Freed from the pressure to stand out from thousands of other posts, conversations on group chats tend to be comfortably subdued — even appealingly boring — in a way that Facebook status updates or tweets never can be. Because most group chats exist on platforms or apps that don’t rely on advertising money or user engagement to support themselves, they’re only as addicting or exploitative as any social interaction might be.”
                      
                        – Max Read in “Group Chats are Making the Internet Fun Again”

… that was a long time ago, but why do I remember it like it was yesterday?